"Crossed" by Ally Condie

From Goodreads: "The hotly awaited second book in the dystopian Matched trilogy

In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky - taken by the Society to his certain death - only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake.

Cassia's quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander - who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia's heart - change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever."

Being a fan of Ally's "Matched" I obviously couldn't wait to get my hands on this book. I had such high hopes for this book (my main hope being that it would be just as good, if not better than, its predecessor). However, after having finished the book I must admit that it did not live up to those expectations.
  
If I had to describe this book in one word it would be "soft"- which took me by surprise as I had expected it to be chocked full of action and adventure with Cassia and the boys coming to understand exactly far deep the corruption ran in their society and the likes of (think "The Hunger Games" trilogy- especially "Mockingjay"). As this book was quite soft it didn't engage me near as much as "Matched" did. Furthermore, being soft I didn't find that it had much of an "AHA!" moment (AKA a climax)- a moment in which after having read it you either have to pick your jaw up from the ground or run to the nearest bathroom to grab some Kleenex so that you can dab your eyes and blow your nose with due to the fact that you are sobbing so hard- in fact, I don't really feel anything after having finished it.

Furthermore, I was also a bit disappointed by the "secret" surrounding Xander. I personally feel that it completely came out of the left field- as if it were an afterthought added into the story to make Cassia's and Ky's happy ending, well, not so happy. And I was a bit disappointed by the fact that this book is one of *those* books that answer questions with more questions (seriously, what did we learn about The Rising in this book? The Rising only plays a significant role in the last few pages of the book, too little, too late).

Complaints aside, there were a number of things that I enjoyed this book, including Xander's visit to Cassia, I thought that it was super sweet and brought a much needed lightness to the book, ditto Cassia and Ky's reunion. I also did enjoy the introduction of a few new characters- Indie and Eli (though more so Eli as I still do not trust Indie, I question her motives).

All in all, while this book was a bit unsatisfying I am looking forward to the next (and final) book in this trilogy. I have complete faith that the next book will be everything that we are hoping it will be.

Rating: 72/5